One thing I note here is that not one single person has mentioned the shooter's Stature. It seems purely unreasonable to me that a person 5' 8" tall (ME) would desire the same feel to a gun as one of 6' 6".
My personal preference leans toward a gun having a barrel length of around twice the pull length. In my case, as I am well fitted with a 14" pull this means a barrel length of 28", which does happen to be my personal favorite. I have shot well with barrels from 26" to 30" but the 28" remains my favorite.
Another thing that has not been mentioned is weight distribution of the barrel itself. Many years ago when I was still on the fence a bit about shooting Damascus, I had an FE grade Lefever sent to Italy for a set of steel barrels. It was a 7˝lb gun & I wanted to lighten it a bit so specified 26" barrels. Whichever one of the Bernadelies that did the work matched the weight identical to the 30" set. Consequently, it has thicker walls down the entire length than the originals.
I shoot either the original or the newer barrels about equally well. It has been my Go-To gun now for about 48 years. I use the steel barrels primarily because I had them bored with more open chokes, which better suit my needs.
Bottom line is there is a WHOLE LOT more to gun fit & Hit-ability than the mere act of stretching a steel tape down to see how long the barrels are. AND, one size doesn't fit All & not even the same person for all uses & occasions.
